Karnataka Crisis LIVE UPDATES: Congress-JDS Coalition Govt To Face Floor Test Today

Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar had on Monday announced the confidence motion sought to be moved by Kumaraswamy would be taken up at 11 am on July 18.

पार्श्वभूमी

New Delhi: The fate of the Congress-JDS coalition government will be decided as floor test in the Karnataka Assembly has been scheduled for Thursday. The 18 rebel MLAs of the government refused to yield after the Supreme ruled on Wednesday that they cannot be compelled to attend the session of the Assembly.

Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar had on Monday announced the confidence motion sought to be moved by Kumaraswamy would be taken up at 11 am on July 18.

As the coalition with truncated strength struggled to shore up its numbers amid fading hopes, the Supreme Court Wednesday ruled that the 15 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs "ought not" to be compelled to participate in the proceedings of the ongoing session of the state Assembly.

The court verdict was interpreted in political circles as a relief for the rebel lawmakers, as it categorically said an option should be given to them as to whether they wanted to take part or stay out of the assembly proceedings.

The ruling coalition had held out the threat of using the Whip against the wayward MLAs, citing the disqualification provision under the anti-defection law.

Armed with the court order, the rebel Congress-JDS MLAs camping in Mumbai said there was no question of stepping back on their resignations or attending the session.

"We are happy with the decision of the Honourable Supreme Court, we honour it," rebel Congress MLA B C Patil said in a video released to the media, further receding the hopes of the ruling coalition to win them back to their fold.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday ruled that the speaker was free to decide on the resignations of the rebel MLAs, within the time-frame decided by him.

Required numbers:

The current strength of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly is 224. If 15 of the rebel MLAs remain absent on the trust vote, the number comes down to 209. In such a scenario, the numbers required by a party to attain the majority mark would be 105.

The BJP has 105 MLA in the house and also has the support of one independent MLA and one MLA from KPJP.

The total MLA count for the BJP-led front (107)  will be comfortably scale the 105 magical mark, hence they stand a realistic chance of forming the government in the state.

Rebel Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy says he will withdraw resignation. In what can be termed as a silver lining for the embattled coalition government in Karnataka, Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy Wednesday said he has decided to withdraw his resignation from the assembly and will vote in favour of the trust vote to be sought by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

I will take part in the assembly session tomorrow and vote in favour of the party. I will continue to remain in the party and serve as MLA, he told news agency PTI.